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Did Bionicle end Lego's non-violence policy?


Toatapio Nuva

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Mutilation, dismemberment, blackmail, decapitation, torture... what is common between these things?

 

Yep. They all featured in The Lego Movie.

 

Now that the provokative intro is done with, let me explain. Before the creation of Bionicle, Lego was known for its strict non-violence policy, the purpose of which was essentially to keep violence in Lego lines to a minimum. While there were plenty of sets involving guns and weaponry such as swords, Lego was careful not to include their usage in any of their backstories or promotional material (as far as I know).

 

When Lego introduced Bionicle in 2001, it was clear that the company was concerned about it challenging its non-violence policy. The tools of the Toa were referred to as... well... tools, rather than weapons, and the Toa never attacked their enemies directly, instead using their elemental powers or outsmarting the opponents. Sure, there was action and explosions, but the story still remained relatively tame in the first years.

 

During the long existence of G1 Bionicle, I noticed that things started to change. While in Mask of Light, for example, the Toa would never make physical contact with their enemies to harm them, two years later in Web of Shadows, we saw some pretty violent imagery. A good guy killed an enemy for the first time in the history of the series, and that was by pummelling him to death... not to mention numerous Visorak being outright destroyed by the Hordika.

 

And do I even need to explain the dark tone and increased violence (as well as the change from "tools" to "weapons") in 2006 and 2007?

 

The full implications of this change didn't hit me, however, until I watched The Lego Movie about a year ago. I remember being startled by how violent it was. All the horrible acts I mentioned at the beginning... they were all part of the plot of The Lego Movie. Yes, it was mostly done in a comedic fashion and destroying Lego characters obviously didn't produce any gore... but I believe the implications are still the same. Not the most questionable thing to ever have been shown to children (certainly not on par with Watership Down... *shivers*), but it shows how much Lego has changed over the years. The same effect can be seen in other Lego lines, like Hero Factory and Ninjago.

 

My point here is, perhaps it was the success of Bionicle - an unusually dark and conflict-driven Lego story - that encouraged Lego to loosen up on its non-violence policy? Has Lego actually given up on the policy, seeing it as unnecessary? Would things be different without Bionicle?

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Well, yes. Things would be different without BIONICLE, for one thing LEGO wouldn't exist today if it weren't for BIONICLE. But, when it comes to the violence factor, I feel that the usage of the word tools alone, and not weapons was a better contender for the line, it made everything feel more alive, like these beings are using modified tools, like that of a fallen society, or the remnants of a great nation. It makes sence to call them tools, because Matoran are a laborer species, and thus use tools. This also includes Toa, who also labored and used tools at one point in time. So calling them tools, for me fits better and makes it feel all the more surreal. But as for LEGO's non-violence policy, I feel that it added a certain level of charm, that we really don't see anymore with modern LEGO lines, it made things like BIONICLE all the more interesting, not using their tools, but instead their elemental powers. Which, I feel gave BIONICLE in it's original run, a very special charm. And I feel as if this were to happen in G2 it would definitely benefit this new generation.

 

But the question still stands, did BIONICLE end LEGO's non-violence policy? I feel that it really didn't, at least not directly. It certainly helped to influence it, but I don't think it was the main driving force that made LEGO decide to get rid of that policy.

 

Times were changing, they needed to do drastic changes in order to stay afloat in the market, and if they hadden't done what they had done, they wouldn't be here today, so yeah, maybe Disney just booted them out of the spot light as being the worlds most influencial brand, but for a time they were, and we can all thank BIONICLE for that in the long run, BIONICLE saved LEGO, that much we must remember. And, as such, they as a business, and as a company and group had to make some major changes to keep themselves afloat, like I said. I'm sure they didn't wan to do it, but for their sake they had to, this goes back to the thing that I said about bionicle, like I said I don't believe that BIONICLE was the major driving force for that policy change, LEGO saw that they had this new brand and probably thought that, that policy would need to go if they wanted kids to stay interested in it. Have more of a dark gritty tone, have violence and gore, because that was popular at the time of the change. 2006 and onwards was a very gritty time socially, people liked super dark and gritty things, and LEGO saw this and jumped on the Free the Band-wagon (ya see what I did there? Free the Band?) but seriously, at the time it was a good business choice, but that choice would come to be short lived, as that later on, infact just the next year, BIONICLE's sales, were dropping.

 

The dark grittyness worked for a time, but it unfortunatly stuck with the rest of G1, and it's aftertaste permeated the line until it's end in 2010. It was fun while it lasted, and though it may have ended in a flop rather than a bang, and even though it wasn't as good later on, LEGO knew what they were doing, and it backfired, at least partially. But now that BIONICLE's back, I yearn for the old days, not the days of the Piraka and Inika, the death of the whole Universe at hand, but the days when six Canisters washed up on a golden beach. But here's hoping, that the rest of G2 can and will be just as good, if not maybe hopefully better then G1 in it's early years.

Edited by Toa Imrukii
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Well, the addition of increased violence in LEGO's lines as of late makes sense. For a while now, kids have enjoyed series with lots of action. Take the Marvel films, for instance. Those have plenty of violence, such as the usage of firearms, as well as mass destruction, blood, and death. LEGO has no qualms about making sets based off these films because they appeal to kids-- their target audience.

 

Now, do I think things would be different without Bionicle? Not necessarily, because the aforementioned things would still appeal to kids.

 

Rather than just the success of Bionicle, I think that it as well as the possibilty to capitalize on other popular series have contributed to LEGO 'loosening up'. I mean, they even made a Deadpool minifigure! :P

 

 

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I think you might be overestimating Bionicle's role in things. It certainly played a role in loosening the policy, but I think that licensed themes like Star Wars arguably played a larger role in convincing Lego that fantasy violence should be exempt. After all, unlike Bionicle, which was entirely under Lego's discretion, Star Wars forced them to choose between either nonviolence or accuracy. And in sets like the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith sets, accuracy seems to have unmistakably won out. That was BEFORE the darker turn the Bionicle story took in 2006, which was probably allowed primarily because of the precedent Star Wars had set.

Also, let's be clear—Lego still has a non-violence policy. It's just been reduced to focusing on real-world violence that might hit a little close to home for kids and families around the globe. Lego City still doesn't have any guns in the hands of police, crooks, or even civilians, and pretty much all depictions of modern war are still avoided (except in fantasy and sci-fi contexts like the Indiana Jones or Super Heroes themes).

Edited by Lyichir
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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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I feel the nonviolence policy ending was simply a matter of time and Bionicle, being heavily story-driven, was a way to experiment with bringing about the end of that policy. IIRC Lego was established as the world was coming out of WWII and it was meant to be a toy that didn't glorify war and violence for the kids like the toy soldiers and stuff kids in the 40s played with. Back then, after two world wars, peaceful toys were attractive for parents and just as fun for kids. That was all well and good for a while, but times changed, the wars became history, the world calmed down a bit, and people wanted actual antagonists and conflicts in their sets so that they could imagine more interesting stories. Nonviolence started to relax a bit. We got Castle and Pirates. Eventually even Space got bad guys. Still, the conflicts were all left up to the kid's imagination.. Then Star Wars came with lightsabers and a strong story and people dying and stuff, Lego Star Wars was a hit, and Lego was like "Huh, we need to cash in on this in a way that we don't have to pay royalties for". And then we got Bionicle. As proven by Star Wars, fans liked having an action-packed story and not just "Here have some faceless guys divided into two groups also they have swords or space guns or whatever do what you want". So they decided to experiment with Bionicle and see what they could get away with. Of course, they were cautious at the start (They're not weapons they're tools!) but got braver and braver as they raked in more $$$. And only the older fans really minded when things got more violent. It was okay to show a fantasy war because it wasn't "too soon" anymore. Nice peaceful nonviolence was old-fashioned and "hippie" now. Dark and edgy sold well, Lego realized "Hey, this isn't so bad", and they started to seriously relax their attitude towards violence because nobody cared about that anymore. As long as it was just toys getting hurt and not humans being graphically murdered, kids can definitely handle it.

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Mutilation, dismemberment, blackmail, decapitation, torture... what is common between these things?

 

 

... Star Wars...

Yeah.

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It's interesting to hear what everyone thinks about this. Star Wars bringing more violence to Lego sets is a good point, and one I didn't fully realize. Since both Star Wars and Bionicle were really successful, I guess they both could have influenced the shift away from non-violence... though I'll admit that Star Wars might actually have been the factor that caused Bionicle to become more violent as well, rather than the other way around.

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Man, don't you just love it when you bring up pretty good points and no one acknowledges them? Man I just love that!

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Man, don't you just love it when you bring up pretty good points and no one acknowledges them? Man I just love that!

You did make some good points my friend, You are correct in that it didn't end LEGO's non violence policy directly, I believe Star Wars did that, straight off the bat they introduced guns or "blasters" to the LEGO world, it was something that had to happen for the Star Wars line to be successful.

 

I understand that this topic is probably about LEGO created themes and stories and not licensed themes, but the fact is, that Star Wars, the theme itself was introduced in 1999, and how about Throwbots and Robo Riders? They had launchers and such included in the sets, the discs that were used in the sets were those very similar to the Tohunga or "McToran".

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I remember as a kid being very confused with the whole "tool" explanation. To me, running a man through with a fire-shaped greatsword seems a lot less painful than shooting fireballs at him until he burns to a crisp.

 

Apologies if that's a little too graphic. I am exaggerating a bit.

 

I am very glad you began by mentioning the tools conundrum, Toatapio Nuva. It was the first thing that came to my mind the moment I read the topic title.

Edited by ~Takumo~
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My understanding of Lego's policy is to not mimic real life military/violence. Fantasy their strongsuit, but heavy military aspects in lines such as Halo would never pass their standards. Which is why we see lines oh Halo and Call of Duty in MegaBloks rather than Lego


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My understanding of Lego's policy is to not mimic real life military/violence. Fantasy their strongsuit, but heavy military aspects in lines such as Halo would never pass their standards. Which is why we see lines oh Halo and Call of Duty in MegaBloks rather than Lego

Things like Halo being disallowed is probably more because it is an M-rated shooter with graphic violence (which, despite being in a sci-fi context, does include more blood and guts than you would typically see in something like Star Wars). Themes like Star Wars and Super Heroes may be based on franchises where violence occurs, but generally the violence there is is less graphic and less central to the experience as a whole.

 

As a side note, the news that there would be an R-rated cut of Batman v. Superman marks the first time Lego sets have explicitly been based on a movie with an R rating. I can't imagine Lego is totally happy with that late-game decision, since it sets a precedent that will be pointed to as an example of hypocrisy despite Lego likely having no say in the matter.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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Mutilation, dismemberment, blackmail, decapitation, torture... what is common between these things?

They aren't part of a Lego theme called Bionicle.

Sez who?

OK, maybe not on-screen/page torture, but still, Makuta Teridax died from a very crude form of decapitation (and doubtless that happened in Bara Magna with all the war) as well as the head of that Visorak Whenua destroyed in Web of Shadows, you see freakin' Visorak legs all over the floor of the Colisseum during the battle, the Vorox at the start of Legend Reborn got its tail mutilated (to say nothing of Kalmah's eye), the Order of Mata Nui were into blackmail and the Piraka's Chamber of Truth was a psychological form of torture. Also, Tridax practically states his intent to torture Vezon on Destral.

 

Have Lego loosened up on the non-violence policy? You bet they have. Not massively (unless it comes to Bonkle), but yeah, there has been more than a little loosening up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bionicle got violent and even dark at times. So yes Bionicle ended the no violence policy.

But is that a bad thing?

No it's not.

For Bionicle is mainly based for boys

(yes I know girls like Bionicle too)

Boys like toys that fight each other and have cool weapons and armor.

So when the movie came out they had to put violence in them it's a movie about warrior robots that beat up the bad guys. The third movie is were they took fighting to a new level and darkend the plot to a whole nother level.

Edited by ToaTimeLord

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think that it was more LEGO Star Wars who ended LEGO's non-violence policy. Those sets came out a few years before Bionicle did and featured more promenent weapons (E.G. they were called "Blasters", where as Bionicle usually stuck to using "Tools"). Star Wars also featured Humans, which may not seem to be a big deal, but having human characters shooting and killing other Humans is a bit different than "robots" killing other "robots".

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Star Wars is probably the original cause of the looser policy, but Bionicle doubtless set precise for Lego's in-house lines. Of course, the real reason I'm posting here is because...

 

As a side note, the news that there would be an R-rated cut of Batman v. Superman marks the first time Lego sets have explicitly been based on a movie with an R rating. I can't imagine Lego is totally happy with that late-game decision, since it sets a precedent that will be pointed to as an example of hypocrisy despite Lego likely having no say in the matter.

The extended cut of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was rated R. [/nitpick]
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Okay, this is comepletely off topic, but I just have to say that I love Dark_Stranger's sig.

 

 

 

Ehem, in anycase. It's clear that BIONICLE did in fact NOT end LEGO's non-violence policy, not directly at least, it was Star Wars that at least either ended it, or started the trend towards more violence, therefore making that policy null and void. At least thats what it seem to have come to for a definitive answer on the topic.

 

Again, times were changing, and I personally feel that because of LEGO's non-violence policy, it drastically impacted their sales in the very late 80's and early 90's, up until the release of LEGO Star Wars, Throwbots/Slizers, and eventually BIONICLE. When BIONICLE hit I'm sure the policy was null by then. Perhaps not directly ended by BIONICLE, that is info we simply don't know, as to if it was ended by Star Wars (which it probably was) or if it really was BIONICLE (which I'm extremely doubtful of).

 

Now the questions is, who did end it? Frankly it was probably Star Wars, and subsiquent themes. Also, which came first Slizers? Or Star Wars? Slizers wasn't directly violent, but I feel that it may have hinted at it a bit. In anycase, thats some info I'm a but rusty on, and having it clarified for me would be a great service.

 

 

I think we do have our answer now though, it wasn't BIONICLE, it was Star Wars.

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Yes Star Wars might have ended the no violence policy, but Bionicle flat out took it and ran down the violence road with all sorts of new violence created by lego.

 

Lego just copied the Star Wars story, but with Bionicle Lego created their own violent story.

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Interestingly, though Bionicle features violence, it seems to run by the rule of most childrens' fiction where violence is mostly employed by the bad guys.

 

because even though the toa had swords and they were using them as one does, the violence was generally kept down to disabling a foe by simply knocking their mask off, wheras the villains of years 1-3 were based around destruction and deaht and doom and gloom etc. (bohrok, rahkshi, feral beasts...)

 

plus, your characters being robots allows oyu to get away with a lot more violence than usual. o:

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Interestingly, though Bionicle features violence, it seems to run by the rule of most childrens' fiction where violence is mostly employed by the bad guys.

 

because even though the toa had swords and they were using them as one does, the violence was generally kept down to disabling a foe by simply knocking their mask off, wheras the villains of years 1-3 were based around destruction and deaht and doom and gloom etc. (bohrok, rahkshi, feral beasts...)

 

plus, your characters being robots allows oyu to get away with a lot more violence than usual. o:

Another factor in how violence in Bionicle was allowed to occur in the later years might be because those parts of the story were almost exclusively in the form of written prose, rather than any sort of graphic media. All there was from 2006 to 2008 was the comics, which often glossed over the more brutal violence that was peppered throughout the books and serials of those years.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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